Special Thanks to Geanellen Kuranko
Steadily Developing into Something Good

The quiet roads and lush prairie lands of South Prairie bear evidence of
a different way of life. Life in the valley was hazardous in 1854 when Paul
Emery filed a Donation Land Claim on prairie land south of Connell and Porter
prairies. (Hence the name South Prairie.) Indian raids were prevalent during
the Indian War of 1855.

In 1859, John Flett, an important Indian interpreter for the Government,
came to South Prairie to farm. He later moved his dairy farm to Sumner
and then to Steilacoom, where the farm still exists today. His sons David,
William and John have gone down in history as the discoverers of rich
coal veins in the Wilkeson and Burnett area. In the wilderness they found
a way to draw attention to the small South Prairie settlement.

With the discovery of coal in 1875 came the need for transporting it.
The Cascade Division of the railroad was the solution. South Prairie made
an ideal site for a thriving city with its accessibility to vast resources
of coal, timber and stone. It was also a natural starting point for tourists
heading to resorts on the north side of Mt. Rainier.

In 1888, Frank Bisson settled in South Prairie on Paul Emery's old donation
claim. He built the first store in town in 1884, and business was thriving.
Customers came from as far away as Cle Elum and Durham, because South
Prairie was the closest town. People often sent their grocery list via
the train engineer, who would give it to Bisson to fill before the train
went on to the Tacoma terminus. On the return trip the engineer would
pick up the goods and deliver them to the customers.

Turn of the Century
Accounts tell of a band of Indians called the Dothliuk who lived here
in the late 19th and early 20th century. Imagine the lifestyle from this
early newspaper account: "Mrs. Roberts recalls in 1887 that the Hudson
Bay Company had a trading post at South Prairie and all the Indian Tribes
of what is now King and Pierce Counties brought their furs there to exchange
for trinkets and camp supplies."

The town was incorporated in 1909, with telegraph operator Allen Tubbs
as the first mayor. There were several hotels, (Hodder, Rosser and Hunter),
a sawmill, general merchandise stores, a hardware store, a meat market,
a soft drink parlor, several beer parlors-saloons-pool halls, a confectionery-tourist
shop, a barber shop, two churches, a livery stable, and farming of dairy,
raspberries and hops. The K.P. Lodge, the Masonic Temple, and the A.O.U.W.
Lodge provided for the community's social activities.

The last school was built in 1906 and closed in 1955. School District
#18 then consolidated with White River School District in Buckley.

Today, South Prairie is still beautiful and, in many spots, unchanged
from the wild and wonderful place it was a hundred years ago. The South
Prairie Creek and tall trees in the meadows make it a peaceful spot where
the outside world's hectic pace seems but a bad dream. The town developed
into what it is today at a slow, steady pace, which is why town life today
is nothing short of good.

Famous Folks
Paul Strand, the outstanding baseball player from the early 1900's, hailed
from South Prairie. He played with the Boston Braves as pitcher when they
won the world pennant in 1912-1913, and he was inducted into the Baseball
Hall of Fame with a 1922 record of 315 hits.

Notes of Interest
South Prairie's Post Office was established as "Melrose," on
January 7, 1894, with William E. Owen being the first Post Master. On
October 2, 1889, the name was changed to South Prairie to coincide with
the town's name, to save on much confusion. Census of South Prairie in
1860 was twelve people. There were nine people in the John Flett family
and three people in the Gale family.